[PRESS RELEASE] Grant Update: Food Shuttle Boosts Agency Partners' Impact with Gifted Vehicles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Raleigh, NC, 4/29/24 - In February 2023, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle received a generous $800,000 Retail Agency Capacity Building Grant from the Walmart Foundation, in collaboration with Feeding America. Now, just one year later, this grant is enabling the Food Shuttle to provide its agency partners with essential refrigerated trucks, allowing them to better serve communities facing food insecurity.

The primary focus of the Retail Agency Capacity Building Grant is to build up retail rescue programs in which fresh, frozen, and shelf-stable foods are donated by grocers for pickup by food banks and agency partners. Through the grant, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle has purchased and provided essential service equipment for local agency partners. During the recent quarter, Food Shuttle gifted four refrigerated vehicles to Lincoln Park Holiness Church, Greater Waltown United Holy Church, Clayton Vineyard Church, and Western Wake Crisis Ministry.

Along with other equipment provided such as pallet jacks, large scale refrigerators, and freezers, these vehicles represent a crucial increase in the operational capabilities of Food Shuttle's agency partners. With new resources in place, partners are better equipped to collect surplus food donations from retail stores efficiently, handle them safely, and expand their capacity to serve individuals and families experiencing hunger within their communities.

“The truck is an upgraded blessing. It will help us maintain food safety and allow for larger transportation of groceries from retailers. Through this gift we can demonstrate our motto of ‘loving people and helping communities’,” said Pastor William Eli Ratcliff of Lincoln Park Holiness Church.

The distribution of these vehicles and equipment signifies a milestone in Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s ongoing mission to directly address hunger in our local communities. Food Shuttle President and CEO, Ron Pringle, said, “We are immensely grateful to Feeding America and the Walmart Foundation for their generosity, which has enabled us to empower our agency partners and make a tangible difference in the lives of those in need."

Thanks to the support of Feeding America and the Walmart Foundation, the Food Shuttle continues to make a positive impact and advance its mission of ending hunger in North Carolina and beyond.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Nicki Medford
Communications Manager
(919) 504-2852
nicki@foodshuttle.org